With highs forecast in the 50s across Boulder County on Saturday, it should be a relatively nice day for those planning to visit the farmers market in Boulder or Longmont.

But the snow and cold of the past few weeks have affected farmers in ways shoppers may notice for months to come.

Shanan Olson, Boulder County Farmers' Market executive director, said many greens and other veggies that farmers had been offering the first two weeks of the 2013 market season were over-wintered or grown in greenhouses. She said many farmers do their first outdoor planting in early spring, but the considerable snow and cold have either delayed planting or prevented farmers from harvesting crops.

"Not only does the snow have to melt, but the soil has to be dry enough so that farmers can get into their fields with machinery without risking compaction," Olson said Thursday. "This weekend -- depending on the melt (Friday), honestly -- some of our farmers may not be able to get into their fields to harvest for Saturday."

Boulder has received 35 inches of April snow and has had some unseasonably cold days, hitting a record low of 10 degrees on Thursday. This month's snowfall follows nearly 23 inches in March.

Each farm does things differently and will feel the effects differently, Olson said, but she said market officials want to get the word out about possible delays in availability of crops such as freshly harvested kale, chard, beets and carrots this season.

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She said many farmers still have spinach and other crops to sell in the coming weeks, and the recent moisture should result in a longer growing season and more abundance later this year.

"I think what we are ultimately going to see is a stop gap or a lurch, and then it will be business as usual," Olson said.

Wyatt Barnes, co-owner of Red Wagon Organic Farm in Boulder County, said he will have plenty of over-wintered spinach for sale this week, but his first planting of kale, turnips and other crops that went in around mid-March have experienced little growth during the cold snap.

"This year, that first planting -- stuff like arugula that should be almost ready right now -- has been in the ground for four weeks now, and it's just still coming," Barnes said. "Everything is going to be fine; it's just everything is going to be later by two weeks or so."

Jason Griffith, co-owner of Hygiene's Aspen Moon Organic Farm, said this April has been the coldest he's experienced since launching the farm in 2009. Like Barnes, Griffith said his planting and harvest schedule has been delayed by about two weeks.

He has been growing spinach in the fields under insulating row covers, but on Thursday evening he expressed concern that the cold might prevent the crop from being ready for harvest in time for sale at the Boulder and Longmont markets Saturday, adding, "I'm scared to look under there."

On Friday, Griffith reported he was able to harvest some of the spinach as well as lettuce, arugula and mixed spicy greens from the Aspen Moon hoop house for the markets.

Despite the cold-weather setback, Griffith said the moisture is worth it.

"Give me 3 more feet next week; I won't mind," he said. "At least everything I plant in May I know I'll be able to water through the fall."

Dave Morton, of Morton's Organic Orchards in Palisade, said this spring has been one of the coldest in recent memory. Since blossoms began appearing on the orchard's cherry, apricot and peach trees in late March, there have been 10 frosts, Morton said, when a typical season produces just three.

He and his family have invested in propane heaters and other mechanisms to keep the trees warm, but his crops have already been affected.

He estimated that the 28-acre orchard has lost about one-third to one-half of its cherry and apricot crop this year, and many peach blossoms have been damaged as well, though that crop should still be strong.

"Most of our orchard is peaches, and so far they are in pretty good shape," he said. "It takes about 10 percent of the blossoms to make for a full crop."

Morton's daughter, Heather Morton Burtness, said the orchard plans to open its booth at the Boulder market earlier than usual this year, perhaps in late May.

"We have jam left over, and we want to utilize that to provide more jam stock and just have an opportunity to say 'hey' to our customers and tell them what the crop looks like and what the timing looks like," she said of the early start. "We're excited for the season. We're hoping this whole cold thing will move along. It's time for spring, and we'll see what happens."

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